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Beverage Director Jesse Ryan serves up the blackberry bees knees cocktail at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

Rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

Rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

The Sunsphere can be seen from the rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

A bowl of snacks and the Peppered Paloma cocktail at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

Beverage Director Jesse Ryan pours a prickly pear margarita at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

Rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

The TVA towers can be seen from the rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

Rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

The blackberry bees knees cocktail at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

Beverage Director Jesse Ryan mixes a drink at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

Alcohol at the at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

Lightbulbs hang in the rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

Rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

Government buildings can be seen from the rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

Rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

Rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar. Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel

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Beverage Director Jesse Ryan mixes a drink at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar.(Photo: Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel)Buy Photo

Located on the 10th floor of the hotel on Gay Street, the rooftop bar offers spectacular views of downtown architecture, the Sunsphere and even nearby mountains.

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Urban life reporter Ryan Wilusz visits Hyatt Place's new rooftop bar and tries some of their craft cocktails on Tuesday, August 7, 2018.
Calvin Mattheis, calvin.mattheis@knoxnews.com

The bar has been open as a private event space for roughly five months but will open to the public Wednesday with craft cocktails, a small food menu and an ambiance that aims to be both casual and elegant.

"I think when people got up here (for private events) and got to see the space, we saw how excited people were for it," said Trenton Keelen, the hotel's general manager. "And we were excited to be able to host people in such a cool venue. We kind of just made a call to open it to the public."

A change of plans

"It looked almost the same," Keelen said. "We were putting final touches on it into March ... We kind of tossed around the idea of opening up to the public here for a while. But really, our intention was to offer a private event space from the time we opened."

And that's exactly what the hotel did. Roughly 20 private events have been held at the bar over the past five months, Keelen said.

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Rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar.(Photo: Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel)

It was about one month ago, though, that hotel owners Rick and Laurie Dover approached Keelen about opening to the public.

"Because we had early conversations anyway, we weren't starting from scratch," Keelen said. "Things that we changed was really just the layout and the floor plan and some stuff behind the bar — pretty minimal changes."

Food options were already in place, too. The hotel's ground-level bar has a bar menu that will be incorporated on the rooftop.

"We want (the food and drinks) to be great for the guests," Keelen said. "We want the experience to be great, and we are making sure that it is before we roll everything out.”

Craft cocktails and bar bites

While the bar will offer international wine and local beer, its specialty will be craft cocktails.

"They are all draft cocktails and all fresh ingredients," said Jesse Ryan, the bar's beverage director. "They're all kind of classic cocktails through a modern lens with a little twist."

The cocktails are made in a large batch before being placed in a keg. A highlight of the drink menu is an old fashioned made with Demerara syrup, which gives the drink a cinnamon taste.

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Alcohol at the at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar.(Photo: Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel)

There's also a spicy Patron Paloma made with pepper, a blackberry bee's knees and a prickly pear margarita.

Guests can try these cocktails, which will typically cost around $12, for a discounted price this week. The first 50 people at the bar opening day will get a free Patron Paloma as part of the bar's "Coming in Hot" party. Everyone else can try the cocktail for just $5.

Bee's knees will cost $5 this Thursday, and old fashioned cocktails will be $5 Friday.

The food menu is still being finalized but will likely include a pub mix, local popcorn from Lora Jean's Gourmet Popcorn and a jerky and cheese board. Guacamole and hummus are still pending, Keelen said.

"It's a comfortable, elegant, upscale space, but it's casual, too," Keelen said. "We have really great ambiance out there, especially at night time — the sun is setting and those string lights come on. It's just a great atmosphere out there, and the views are just gorgeous."

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Government buildings can be seen from the rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar.(Photo: Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel)

In three directions, mountains can be seen from the rooftop. You can also get a view of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Sunsphere depending on which direction you're facing.

To add to the ambiance, the bar will have a mix of upbeat, fun music playing through speakers around the deck, which is roughly 2,000 square feet, Keelen said.

Those same speakers could connect to instruments, allowing acoustic musicians to perform on the rooftop. Another option for live music is a DJ, Keelen said.

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The Sunsphere can be seen from the rooftop seating at the Hyatt Place Rooftop Bar in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The rooftop offers views of downtown, mountains and a selection of drinks and snacks at the bar.(Photo: Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel)

Keelen said the bar will temporarily close after about three months when the weather gets colder, despite fire pits being included near some couches.

“We’ll learn a lot about our customers and what they want," Keelen said. "From there, we'll make decisions about how to change the space before we open again next year."

Want to go?

The rooftop will open Wednesday at 3 p.m. and will close at midnight. The bar will have these same hours each Wednesday through Saturday until the season ends.

Upon arrival, customers will be greeted by a hostess on the ground level. If the bar is at its capacity of roughly 120 people, guests can wait in the downstairs lobby.

If space is available, the elevator will take guests to the 10th floor, where they will be greeted by another hostess and directed to the bar. No reservations will be taken.

"There's a lot of great places in Knoxville," Keelen said. "I think it's one of the things that makes Knoxville so great. We're just going to add to that mix that's already there with our craft cocktail menu ... and you can pretty much see something beautiful no matter where you're standing on that rooftop."